


Until Death Do Us Part

by AokazuSei



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-30
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-02-19 09:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2383709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AokazuSei/pseuds/AokazuSei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Supernatural Au!:Suffering from amnesia, Kuroko's memory spans from the past three years to the present. However, with the fateful encounter of seven people, his memory starts returning, along with secrets that could threaten everyone's peaceful existence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once Upon a Dream (1.1)

A light snow coated the forest floor, falling softly onto the cold ground. Although only mid-morning, nothing but silence could be heard throughout the wilderness. But that tranquility was quickly broken as a body of darkly armored men made way through the maze of trees.

Frigid winds whipped their faces as they tried to escape, but if it weren’t for the body of a boy, slung over one of their shoulders’, would their lives be spared. Right behind their trail was a colorful group, fury evident in every stride and breath they took. Everything about them screamed murderous, even though their appearance could have been no more than 18.

“Give him back!” The blond one screamed. His eyes glowed golden before one of the armored men fell dead, a dagger embedded through the back of his skull, piercing through to the man’s eye.

“It’s useless to run!” The tanned blue haired threatened, but within a blink of an eye, he disappeared, only to reappear on top of a newly made corpse.

With each passing second, another armored man died, and the proceeding colorful band advanced forward, evidently gaining ground. It only took a few minutes before the colorful teens surrounded the exhausted thieves, with eyes full of rage.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The redhaired one asked, his voice laced with venom. Each and every one of the bandits became tensed; despite his size, the man before them held the most authority and power.

As if biding their time, one of them asked, though his voice trembled through fear, “What are you?”

A man dropped dead as soon as that question was asked, courtesy of the green haired one. “You’re in no position to ask such a thing.”

“If you don’t give him back,” The purple haired on threatened, his eyes glowing dangerously. “I’ll crush you.”

The bandits cowered from the five’s presence, but did not cede to the colorful group’s demands. One of them took a nervous gulp of air before shouting, “Like we’d ever answer you, monsters!”

Another body joined the dead, but before the colorful band could make do with the thieves, another group made their appearance, emerging from the skies and landing inside the circle the teens made. The new arrivals were completely different from the shivering men; they weren’t human. But that didn’t matter to the teens, considering the fact that they weren’t either.

The blond greeted the newcomers by throwing a dagger towards them; though, they easily dodged.

“A simple ‘hello’ would be nice,” Whined a lengthy man with chin length hair. There were three other men who accompanied him: a buff tanned man, a short haired blond, and a man with thick eyebrows.

“You’re in the way,” Threatened the redhaired teen, anxious to get back the sleeping boy.

“And what are you going to do about it?” Challenged the dark haired man with thick eyebrows.

The colorful teens glowered dangerously, emitting demonous auras.  
“Woah, scary,” The muscular man commented. “You’re called the ‘Generation of Miracles’ right? Well let’s put that title to a test.”

“Silence you insolent fool,” Warned the redhaired teen. “If anything, you’re nothing more but ‘Uncrowned Generals’.”

“Heh,” The short haired blond replied. “You should treat your seniors with some respect.”

“As if you’d live long enough for that day!” The blue teen threatened as he lunged towards the blond, resulting in a blood bath.

Although the new arrivals were able to easily dodge the attacks, their mortal partners were soon slaughtered by the rage of the colorful teens. The sleeping boy’s body fell but was soon picked up by the muscular man who started running away, but the teens weren’t going to let them so easily, if not at all.

The purple haired teen grabbed the running man by his leg and lifted him up, causing the unconscious boy to fall once more. Rolling down the slanted terrain, the boy kept tumbling down the snow covered floor, drawing the fighting men’s attention towards the boy, giving chase after the boy. As they made their way through the steep slope, they continuously fought each other, trying hard to make sure the other wouldn’t reach the boy.

Thin ice cracked as the boy landed on top of a prematurely frozen stream, causing colorful eyes to widen in shock. It took only moments before the freezing water broke through the fragile surface and enveloped him. Screams and shouts were muffled by the water as the river dragged him away. But through the small crack in his eyes, the last thing the boy saw was a redhaired teen reaching out for him, all before his once clean chest was dyed with the same shade of crimson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter. It'll probably update really slowly, but I do plan on finishing it, one way or another. I am planning on finishing A New Life eventually, but I have writer's block, so it'll probably take a lot longer to finish. 
> 
> Also, I broke up the first chapter into parts so that it would be easier to read.
> 
> Edit 10/6: my friend told me that people can be triggered by sudden death, so I just put up the warning. 
> 
> Also, my writing won't be that good, but I'll refrain from reediting the finished chapters until I'm done with the fic. This is mostly due to the fact that I'm really bad at updating, so I'll edit my fic after this is finished. Future chapters may or may not be better.


	2. Just A Normal Day (1.2)

Cerulean eyes were opened wide before blinking back the drowsiness. Eliciting a small groan, the boy sat up from his bed, taking a quick glance at the clock. It was still fairly early in the morning, but school didn’t start until two hours from now. With a small sigh, he pulled the covers over his head, but he was still wide awake.

“What a weird dream,” He sighed as he closed his eyes, the dream slowly but surely escaping from his mind. In fact, he couldn’t even remember what started the chase scene, but he wasn’t too preoccupied in solving that mystery; dreams could be very odd at times. Thinking back, those teens, the colorful group, they seemed to be very familiar, though, it wasn’t as if he had met them specifically. They could have been passing strangers for all he knew, considering the fact that dreams remembered people subconsciously.

Another heavy sigh left his mouth as he decided to finally get up.It was useless thinking about his dream anyway; he’d just forget it later on. He walked to the bathroom, taking a quick shower to tame his wild bed hair, before changing into a black gakuran.

As he walked downstairs, he couldn’t help but hear some muffled voices, crinkling newspaper, and the sizzling of the grill.

“Good morning,” He greeted. His mother was cooking some eggs and toast while his father was sitting in the table reading the morning papers, while his grandmother sipped her tea.

“Good morning to you too Tet-chan,” His grandmother answered, smiling gently as he made way to the table.

“You’re up early today Tetsuya. Do you need to go early today?” His father asked, putting down the papers to look at his son.

“No, I just couldn’t go back to sleep,” The boy answered before kissing his grandmother on her cheek.

“You were probably excited to go back to school again,” His mother suggested as she turned back to her cooking. “You must have missed your friends during the break.”

“Ah, that might be it,” He murmured.

It didn’t take long until his mother was finish cooking, thus beginning breakfast as they prayed before continuing the meal. By the time they finished eating, the boy bid his family farewell before leaving.

There was still an more than an hour left until school started, and it only took around fifteen minutes to walk from his home to school, so he decided to walk around the Tokyo district for a little while. Although it was a school day, he was surprised to find several high school students wandering around, hanging out with friends or eating out.

Looking at how other people could be with others, it sort of made him jealous. He didn’t really have that many friends, or he didn’t remember if he did. In fact, there was a lot of things he couldn’t remember, like elementary or even middle school; if he thought about it, he didn’t have any memories until the past year. His parents told him that it was because he suffered a really bad accident, causing memory loss.

He didn’t try to brood over that fact very much, otherwise, he’d go through a very depressive episode, which would make his family worry about him even more; that was something he couldn’t allow. Besides, he isn’t alone; he has his teammates.

Looking around to distract him from him from his pessimistic thoughts, his eyes drifted toward an alleyway. It seemed very silly and a bit dangerous to be drawn to a dark road, but there was something that drew his attention. Deciding that it would be fine if he stayed outside of the path, he began to walk towards it. He only needed to take a few steps forward before he heard soft whines.

Surprised by the sound, he rushed towards the alley and was immediately greeted by a dirt covered stray. He kneeled down to look at the puppy, who happily barked at the boy. They shared a short silence, both staring at each other until the boy lifted the puppy from its mangled box.

“My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, and I’ll be your caretaker from now on,” Kuroko declared, though the small puppy held no protest, but instead, licked his cheek cheerfully.

A slight smile appeared on the boy’s face before he walked away, “You’re dirty… I should probably clean you up a bit.”

Kuroko took a look around before heading towards the nearest restaurant, the sign Maji Burger adorned the building. He was about to enter until he heard someone calling his name, causing him to quickly turn around. But the spot where he thought someone had called him was empty, with no one even passing him a glance. How silly of him to think that someone would actually pay attention to him; he nearly forgot that he almost had no presence.

However, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone did shout his name, but he wondered, why did they say it so sadly?

Frowning as he mentally reprimanded himself, he was probably over thinking something that didn’t happen. Ignoring his previous thoughts, he continued his day, unaware that he was correct, ignorant of the fact that a band of colorful teens had just found him.

~~~~~

Morning period was rather normal, other than the fact that he was hording a puppy. He brought along the stray since it took a while cleaning it up in the restroom. It probably wasn’t a good idea to keep the pup in his uniform, but he was worried that the puppy would create too much noise alone; he did try putting him in the bag, only to have the stray bark in protest. For now, he would use a book to cover the bulge in his uniform.

He still hasn’t given the stray a name yet, but he decided he’ll ask his friends later during club. Though, they would most likely comment on how similar the puppy’s eyes were compared to his; the resemblance was so uncanny, it was kind of frightening.

His thoughts were interrupted when a he was greeted by Kagami, a teen with dual colored hair and a large build. He recently transferred from America, currently living alone, and was an absolute beast in basketball; in fact, he was Seirin’s ace. But, he was unstoppable when he worked together with Kuroko, who, although may look average, was a passing and stealing specialist.

“Yo, Kuroko,” Kagami greeted before taking his seat, which was in front of Kuroko’s. He didn’t seem to notice anything different, so Kuroko decided to tell him during lunch.

“Good morning, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko returned to his book, slightly shifting when he felt the puppy move.

They didn’t really speak much during class, though it was mostly because they were suppose to be listening to the lecture. It wasn’t that long ago since he met Kagami, at most three months or so, but the first time he saw him, Kuroko felt very nostalgic; now that he thought about it, the first thing that Kagami reminded him was blue.

It was very strange how he could even come up with that though, considering the fact that Kagami’s eyes and hair were red and black. No, a person’s physical appearance isn’t everything, could it have been his personality that attracted him?

Kuroko sighed before putting his book down and turning to look outside the window. There was no use brooding over this, yet the topic always came back, sometimes out of the blue. This shouldn’t bother him as much as it should, but he was certain that Kagami reminded him of someone else.

A small bark broke Kuroko’s trance as he immediately tried to quiet the pup, but the surprised yelp of Kagami concealed it. The puppy barked again, causing Kagami to tense and look around in a panic.

Kuroko didn’t notice this before, but it seemed that Kagami had a strong aversion to dogs. Thankfully though, Kagami’s outburst drew the entire class’ attention towards him instead of the puppy’s soft whines.

He chuckled to himself as he looked out the window once more. Kagami really did remind him of someone blue.

~~~~~

Kagami continued to stay tense during the lecture despite being scolded by their teacher. The moment school ended, the dual colored teen immediately turned around and whispered, “You heard a dog barking right?”

For some reason, Kuroko found it amusing to see Kagami being so flustered and scared. He chuckled as he thought of how to respond, it seemed he had a bit of a sadistic streak, “Ah, are you talking this cute little guy?”

As expected, Kagami let out another shrill yelp the moment Kuroko opened his gakuran slightly, revealing a panting puppy.

“Get that thing away from me!” Kagami shouted as he tried moving backwards, only to trip over a table and crash onto the floor.

“Don’t say that Kagami-kun,” Kuroko commented, pretending to pout as he held the puppy in his hands. He started moving the pup into the ace’s face. In seconds, Kagami bolted from the classroom, but Kuroko was in quick pursuit. “He’s very cute!”

“Don’t you dare Kuroko! I’ll kill you later!” Though, Kagami’s threats weren’t very convincing when he was running away with tears in his eyes.

“What are you two doing?”

Kuroko stopped, turning around to see his basketball coach, Aida Riko, and his other club members staring at them.

“Ah, good afternoon, Aida-,” Kuroko greeted, but he was soon cut off when his senior snatched the puppy from his hands.

“He’s so fluffy! He’s so cute!” She squealed, twirling from pure happiness. “Where did you come from? You’re so cute!”

The group sighed; Aida was very weak towards cute and small things, especially animals. It wouldn’t be surprising if she continued cooing at the puppy for another hour or so. With that information, they were certainly surprised to see her stop.

“Hey, doesn’t he look like someone?” Aida thought out loud before taking several glances at Kuroko and the puppy.


	3. The Past with a Little Bit of History (1.3)

“I can’t believe you’re going to name it Tetsuya #2,” Kagami commented from afar.

“I think it suits him,” Kuroko responded, putting the puppy on his head. “We can shorten his name to ‘Nigou’, if you want Kagami-kun.”

The redhead stopped, annoyed. “That’s not what I meant.”

Kuroko stared at him. “I don’t see what’s the problem other than your phobia for dogs, Kagami-kun.”

“I have a good reason not to like them!” Kagami retorted as he continued walking.

“Kagami-kun, that was years ago, and Nigou is very smart. He wouldn’t do that to you,” Kuroko countered. “Though, I suppose it’s very traumatizing to get bitten on the ass.”

And with his off hand comment, Kagami’s face became beet red. “Shut up!”

Kuroko chuckled until he collided with something hard, causing him to stumble backwards. Once he recovered, he slightly bowed his head, “Ah, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Kurokocchi…”

It was nothing more than a whisper, one so silent, the bluenette needed to strain his ears, but nevertheless, he did hear it.

Surprised, Kuroko looked up to see a blond male. With his looks, it wouldn’t be surprising if he was a model or an uprising actor. But, what shocked the bluenette the most was how nostalgic the teen felt. Did they meet before? It must have been so, otherwise, how would the blond even know his name? Well, he was assuming that the teen just added a strange honorific or something.

“‘Excuse me, but, do I know you?” He asked. But as soon as it was asked, he regretted the question. It appeared for only a brief second, but no matter how hard the blond tried hiding his pain with a smile, Kuroko could easily see his despair and sadness.

“Ah, sorry. I must be creeping you out. I just wanted to talk about how cute your puppy is,” The blond tried to laugh off the awkwardness. “My name is Kise Ryouta. What’s your name?”

His question made the bluenette very confused and slightly suspicious. Didn’t he just say it a moment ago?

“My name is Kuroko Tetsuya,” Kuroko decided to play along. Kise was hiding something that was related to him, and the bluenette had a great desire to know. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Kagami’s reaction to the newcomer wasn’t exactly welcoming, more likely, the exact opposite of friendly. The dual hair colored teen glared angrily at Kise before siding close to Kuroko, feeling a grave need to protect his smaller friend, yet the blond paid no heed to his implied challenge.

No, that wasn’t right. Kise didn’t outright ignore him, not with that demonous glint directed towards Kagami; the blond felt no need to pay attention to him. Even though, pure-blooded immortals were insanely stranger than half-breeds like him, Kise was different. There was something that made him different from the others, more deadly, per se.

He immediately knew what Kise was the moment Kuroko made contact with him, but it was strange. Why was Kise interested in a human like Kuroko? The more Kagami thought about it, the stranger it was, especially considering the fact that the bluenette’s presence was strangely non-existent compared to normal people.

“This is Kagami-kun, and up here is Nigou,” Kuroko continued, introducing the others since it seemed unlikely for the dual haired teen to speak up.

“‘Nigou’?” Kise thought out loud. He thought it was a ridiculously absurd name, all until he got a closer look at the puppy’s eyes. Only after then, did he realize how well the name suited for the dog. “Ah! He looks just like you Kurokocchi!”

“‘cchi’?” The bluenette repeated in confusion.

“I add ‘cchi’ when I respect and acknowledge someone, Kurokocchi!” The blond answered cheerfully.

“Please stop calling me that Kise-kun,” Kuroko asked. “Besides, you just met me. Shouldn’t you reserve that honorific for someone else?”

“How mean!” Kise cried as fake tears streamed down his face like a faucet.

“Pfft,” The bluenette sighed out a laugh before commenting. “You’re still childish as always, Kise-kun.”

He blinked. ‘As always’?

Kuroko turned to look at the other two who were both wide eyed at the bluenette’s remark. He especially took great care to examine Kise; it proved to be quite confusing. Happiness, excitement, then anxiety and anguish all flash in just a few seconds before the blond once more put on a joyful facade.

“What are you talking about Kurokocchi?” Kise grinned. His smile might have fooled random strangers, but Kuroko knew that this smile was fake; Kise must surely be in a lot of pain right now, was what Kuroko reasoned. “We just met today, remember?”

“Kise-kun,” Kuroko gestured the taller male to come closer, catching both Kise and Kagami off guard when the bluenette ran his fingers through golden hair. It should have felt strange, randomly petting someone’s head, but to the bluenette, it felt the most natural. “If you don’t feel like smiling, then don’t force yourself to.”

“Kurokocchi…”

Was that a tear? It was hard to tell because the wet droplet was wiped away in a swift movement, revealing a smiling blond.

“Thank you Kurokocchi! I’ll keep that in mind!” Slowly inching away from the bluenette, Kise stood up tall, with a true smile adorning his face. “I have to go now, but I’ll definitely see you later! Bye Kurokocchi!”

“Good bye Kise-kun,” Kuroko returned, but the blond was now too far to be seen.

“Oi, Kuroko, are you sure you haven’t met that guy before?” Kagami asked.

“I’m not sure,” He looked down at his palms. “Maybe I knew him a long time ago…”

Kagami glanced at Kuroko with the corner of his eye before sighing, “Ugh, I’m hungry. Let’s go to Maji’s already.”

“Ah, okay Kagami-kun,” The bluenette looked up at the sky. Kise was probably one of them, one of the people he had forgotten.

~~~~~

“Ugh, I’m stuffed,” sighed Kagami, rubbing his belly in satisfaction.

“I haven’t seen anyone eat that many burgers in just one sitting,” Kuroko stared at his partner. “Are you sure you’re human Kagami-kun?”

In less than half a second, the taller teen was reduced to a large coughing fit, his face crimson as he pounded his chest. Worried, Kuroko did the only thing he could think of, patting the redhead’s back. It did stop Kagami from coughing to death, but he got a little carried away as the taller teen yelped from pain; a pink handmark now present on his back.

“Are you okay, Kagami-kun?” Kuroko asked as he gave the redhead one last pat.

“Like hell I’m not!” Kagami shouted back. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Of course not,” Kuroko replied innocently. “Right, Nigou?”

“Arf!” The puppy barked in agreement, causing Kagami to jump at least a meter away.

“Damn it, Kuroko. You’re doing this on purpose!” The redhead accused from afar.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” The bluenette teased, putting Nigou into his bag, before he started walking. “Anyway, it’s starting to get late. We should hurry if we want to go to the convenience store.”

“Eh? I don’t mind, but why do you want to go there today?” Kagami questioned.

“It’s good to treat yourself to ice cream sometimes, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko answered, pausing to think to himself.

No, ice cream wasn’t the reason he wanted to go to the convenience store, more like an excuse to hide his true intention. After meeting Kise today, he had a very strong urge to go to certain places; the convenience store, for example, was one of them.

There was probably a good reason as to why he felt such a strong impulse, besides, even if he was met with nothing, there would be no harm in trying.

Blinking, he broke his train of thought to look at the redhead. “Let’s go, Kagami-kun.”

“Yeah, yeah,” The redhead answered, eyes trailing the back of his teammate as he followed.

To be honest, he was very shocked to hear Kuroko asking if he was even human, though Kagami ruled that out as one of the few jokes the bluenette sported. But, if Kuroko did find out that he wasn’t human, what would he do? Would Kuroko avoid him? Fear him?

Even though Kagami was concerned about their relationship if the latter ever found out, there would be larger problems if Kuroko found out about the supernatural world lurking in plain sight. Kagami didn’t know all of the rules of the supernatural world, this was mostly due to being half and thus most of the rules couldn’t or didn’t apply in his case; plus, he lived as a human for the majority of his life, so as long as he didn’t cause too much trouble in his human guise, everything should be fine.

But even though he was uneducated in supernatural affairs, rules, and customs, there was one unspoken rule: Humans must never learn about the existence of supernatural beings.

This was for the safety for mostly supernatural beings since there were very few. Some had the capability to live for thousands of years, but the majority had only a lifetime of a few centuries. And, as far as the birth to death ratio went, the amount of babies born each decade would be less than fifty on a worldwide scale while there would be around one hundred deaths. Apparently, one way to reproduce faster is by mingling with the humans, but even then, it was still difficult to impregnate a human, and nearly impossible for a human to impregnate their immortal mate.

Kagami didn’t remember much, but his mother told him some history about the supernaturals, and why they were reduced to so few. She told him that several hundred thousand years ago, there were just as many supernaturals as there were humans. But there was a malicious human with monstrous strength and skills. He managed to eradicate very powerful clan, enslaving the last surviving member to do his bidding.

Several other kingdoms grew fearful of the evil king’s growing country. Eventually, the evil king decided that he liked having power and didn’t want anyone else to rival him, and so, he sent his minion to kill several important people. War thus ensued, with the evil king against other kingdoms angered by his actions.

The evil king was rumored to kidnap and enslave other supernatural beings, experimenting on them to find ways on how to enhance their already powerful abilities. However, although nearly each subject died in his experiments, the human king was relentless and continued finding more supernatural beings to experiment on.

War lasted for nearly two decades before the evil king was mysteriously murdered. No one knew who killed him. Some say that a failed experiment came back to life just to kill him before going on a killing frenzy itself. Others say that it was the last surviving clan member who managed to extract revenge.

It is still vague today on what exactly happened, but to prevent the supernaturals from going extinct, it was necessary to have human alibis in order to coexist; otherwise, they would need to live in solitude, far away from any place that may contain humans.

Personal prejudices formed, though most were made from the elder generations. Those who were very extreme with their animosity, harbored no mercy to any human who knew their secrets. As long as they remained ignorant, then they’d have a better chance at staying alive, though there was no guarantee.

Still, Kagami didn’t want to risk that chance, but Kise was going to make it very difficult for him if the blond was insistent on seeing Kuroko. He didn’t seem like he wanted to do anything malicious towards Kuroko, but Kise was still highly suspicious. Kagami didn’t know what he could do if the blond had his eyes set on the bluenette, but letting Kise doing whatever the hell he wanted was definitely not going to happen.

With Kise’s arrival, something bad was going to happen soon. It was just a hunch, but even he couldn’t ignore his gut instincts. Following after the bluenette, Kagami continued walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lousy naming sense, so if anyone wants to help name my chapters, please tell me. It would also be helpful if someone can edit my summary.


	4. Slight Inconveniences in Convenience Stores (1.4)

The sun was still high in the sky when they had reach the convenience store, but it wasn’t too far away.

Kuroko bought vanilla flavored twin popsicles, Kagami the soda flavored one. They were ready to pay at the register, but there seemed to be a problem.

“I’m sorry sir, but we can’t accept this,” The store clerk squeaked. She was in tears, clearly intimidated by the overly tall purple haired man.

“What do you mean?” He questioned slowly, tilting his head childishly. “This is money right? Why aren’t you taking it?”

Curious, Kuroko managed to slip beside the two, wondering what the problem was. With one glance, the bluenette could immediately tell what was wrong.

“Excuse me, but this convenience store doesn’t accept foreign currency,” Kuroko stated politely, though that didn’t prevent the clerk from screaming from surprise.

The purple haired man didn’t seem as shocked, if he did, there was certainly no reaction. “Ah, they don’t?”

“No, they don’t,” Kuroko repeated, though it was a nice surprise to not be greeted with shrieks every now and then. Addressing the cashier, who was now crying from fear, “I’m sorry for surprising you. If you don’t mind, I’ll pay for him too.”

“Ah! Okay,” Quickly registering their bill, she silently thanked the bluenette, giving him the bag before he left. “Have a good day.”

Once outside, Kagami confronted the bluenette. “That was nice of you.”

“It wouldn’t help the situation if I just stood there, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko commented. Turning towards the purple haired giant, he took out a box of popsicle sticks. “Here, this is your’s.”

“Ah, thank you…” His sentence was prolonged, silently asking the bluenette, as he took the box.

“My name is Kuroko Tetsuya,” The shorter male answered. “What’s your name?”

“Murasakibara Atsushi,” The purple haired responded. Reaching a hand out towards the bluenette, Murasakibara proceeded to pat Kuroko on his head. “Thank you Kuro-chin.”

Kuroko could only blink as a response. It was just a simple pat on the head, and yet, it felt just the same as meeting Kise. Why?

It took a while before the bluenette managed to respond, pushing the hand away, Kuroko looked away in slight annoyance. “Please refrain from doing that again, Murasakibara-kun.”

“Okay…” He took a long glance downwards, spouting an offhanded comment, “Kuro-chin’s small.”

“I am average Murasakibara-kun,” Kuroko huffed in slight frustration, with Kagami laughing in the background. “You and Kagami-kun are just too tall.”

“Pfft, see Kuroko? You are short,” Kagami laughed, though that was soon stopped by a jab in the ribs. “Oi, what was that for?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you guys who binge on cheeseburgers and snacks,” Kuroko rebutted. He stopped, blinking.

‘You guys’? ‘Snacks’? The only person who’s eating habits he knew was Kagami’s, but why did he mention snacks? It could have been a guess, an impulsive comment based on what the giant had bought earlier, but even so, that was still strange.

“Ne, Kuro-chin,” The purple haired teen prodded the bluenette on the shoulder. “Your ice cream is going to melt.”

“Ah, you’re right, Murasakibara-kun,” Kuroko thanked as he started to open the wrapper, slowly eating the popsicle. “You should start eating. You do have quite a bit to finish.”

“Okay,” Turning, he started to leave. “Thank you for buying my ice cream. I’ll see you later Kuro-chin.”

“You’re welcome. It was nice meeting you too, Murasakibara-kun,” Kuroko gave him one last bow before he turned towards Kagami, who was silent the entire time.

“What’s wrong Kagami-kun?” The bluenette asked.

“I don’t know,” The taller male stood beside him. “I just have a bad feeling.”

“Is that so?” Kuroko tilted his head, curiously, though he had thought enough to make a guess.

If Kagami had a bad feeling, then it wouldn’t be too good to shrug it off. No matter how idiotic the latter could be, instincts were something he had plenty of. Plus, it wouldn’t be too unreasonable to think something was out of the ordinary.

Kagami must have realized that he was a bit off today, probably due to all of the nostalgia he had felt. It was unusual, but Kuroko didn’t know if this was a bad or good thing. Though, it seemed Kagami wanted to take the more cautious route regarding this.

“We’ll have to see what’ll happen later, Kagami-kun,” The latter looked at Kuroko before sighing.

“Ah, whatever,” Kagami breathed in indifference. “There’s no use brooding over something like the future, so we just need to do our best.”

“That’s surprisingly quite cheesy of you Kagami-kun,” Kuroko teased, resulting in an annoyed huff from the redhead. “I’m going to go to the bookstore, do you want to come?”

“Huh, sure,” Looking up at the sky, Kagami continued, “Hey, it looks like it’ll be a while before it gets dark, want to play a game or two after?”

“Sure,” Kuroko agreed, only to stop again to look at the latter who seemed to have an internal crisis.

“Where’s Nigou?” Kagami asked with such serious, that it was hard for Kuroko not to chuckle.

“He’s in my bag, Kagami-kun,” Opening it, Kuroko peered in. “Ah, he’s asleep, but you insist on seeing him…”

“Don’t you dare!” The redhead shouted, but he immediately froze when a whine erupted from the bluenette’s bag.

“It seems Nigou woke up just for you, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko smiled mischievously, taking out the now awake puppy. “Why don’t you give him a good afternoon kiss?”

“Damn it Kuroko!” Kagami started running. “You bastard! You’re going to regret this!”

And as they ran off, they were left oblivious to the figures hiding the the darkness of a nearby alleyway.

“You know what currency they use here, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Walking out of blackness, golden hair glistened under the sun.

“At least I don’t appear out of the blue with the lame excuse of wanting to see a puppy,” The other countered, stepping out to let the sun shine down on his long purple locks.

“Now now, you shouldn’t fight.” It was a woman, flipping her hair, the pink strands glowed in the light. “We should be lucky that we found him after all of these years.”

The two looked at her before nodding and grunting in agreement. Smiling, she motioned them towards her, “Let’s go. He’ll be mad if we lost track of him.”


	5. Vertically Challenged (1.5)

The sun was setting by the time two exhausted teens reached the bookstore.

“Hey, don’t you think you can lay off using Nigou against me?” Kagami smiled as his eyes twitched in annoyance and anger, his knuckles forcibly rubbing against the bluenette’s head.

“Ow, ow, Kagami-kun, ow, that hurts,” Kuroko winced, trying to pull the latter’s hand off.

It took around five minutes until the redhead let loose, allowing the bluenette to roam the bookstore in bliss. He had read a few pages of Kokoro by Natsume Soseki in the library during school. It seemed like an interesting read, so he wanted to buy his own copy.

But, the only problem was that the book was inconveniently placed in a very high shelf. He could understand the store managers for using a ridiculously tall shelf to make better use of their space, but they should have put in more thought in buying more step ladders.

Kuroko wasn’t short as several people thought him to be, but because he was around the basketball team most of the time, which was filled with very tall people, everyone who saw and knew him just assumed the bluenette to be shorter than average.

Looking around, Kuroko tried looking for any leverage that he could use to gain height, but it seemed all of the step ladders were currently in use. Maybe he could ask someone taller to help him out; Kagami was out of the question though. He frowned at the thought, knowing him, the latter would probably hold this against him for the rest of his life.

Sighing, Kuroko decided to try reaching for the book. Maybe it wasn't as tall as he thought or maybe he actually grew an inch or two, which would be a miracle in itself.

Surprisingly, but also frustratingly, his fingertips were barely able to graze the bottom of the hardcover. He would have continued his attempt, but a bandaged hand caught his attention.

Looking behind, there was a tall green haired teen who wore glasses. His left hand, which now held the book, was wrapped in medical tape, his right hand, however, held a palm sized frog.

"Here," He offered the book to the bluenette, shifting his glass as he continued coldly. "If you need help, just ask someone. It's troublesome if you just stand here doing nothing."

"Ah, I'll keep that in mind," Kuroko blinked as he took the book. "I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. What's your name?"

The green haired teen stared at him for a long second before looking away, muttering, "Midorima Shintarou."

"Thank you Midorima-kun," This was all but a hunch, but Kuroko didn't think the tall man was as cold as he appeared, more like he was too embarrassed or socially awkward to show otherwise. "It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Midorima commented before walking away.

For some reason, Kuroko felt compelled to follow the green haired teen, only straying a few steps behind. If Midorima felt paranoid because of the bluenette's stalking, he didn't voice it, though the slight tension on his back didn't escape from cerulean eyes.

The green haired teen stopped at a nearby isle, picking out a thick hardcover novel, the title "Run Melos!" flashing for a quick second. Flipping through the first few pages, Midorima eyed the bluenette with the corner of his eye, "Is there something you need?"

"No, there isn't," Kuroko politely answered. Strangely, he felt somewhat content by walking beside the taller teen. Thinking about it, his interest towards Midorima was just like how he met Kagami, though on a lesser scale.

Back then, Kuroko also followed the redhead, feeling very nostalgic and familiar with the stranger. He even joined the same club, basketball, despite knowing absolutely nothing of the sport. It was gruesome, the first few days of training, but eventually, he found his own style of basketball, helping his teammates through tough times.

“Midorima-kun, how did you hurt your fingers?” Kuroko asked as he directed his gaze towards the other’s hand.

Midorima was confused for a second before realizing that the bluenette meant his fingers, sheepishly answering, “No, I didn’t get hurt.”

“Then why are your fingers bandaged?” Kuroko tilted his head, a little puzzled.

“It’s because…. uh,” He took a very long pause, stuttering as he tried coming up with a rational reason. “I take archery!”

“Excuse me?” The bluenette blinked; the sudden outburst surprised him.

“My fingers are bandaged because I take archery. It makes it easier to draw the bow back,” Midorima huffed proudly, pleased at the last minute excuse he came up with.

“Ah, okay,” Kuroko nodded, trying not to be seen as insulting or awkward.

He hoped that the conversation could continue, wanting to know more of the green haired enigma. In the end, they continued talking, the subject ranging from favorite types of stories to Midorima’s obsession, Oh Asa, horoscopes.

Despite his serious appearance, it was fun to see such a passionate side of the green head. Apparently, the glass frog figurine, Mr. Ribbit, was Midorima’s lucky item.

It wasn’t long until Kagami went looking for the bluenette, hollering his name every so often.

“Oi! Kuroko, where are you?” The redhead shouted as he looked through each of the isles. He would have overlooked Kuroko if the bluenette didn’t appear right in front of him, successfully scaring him.

“I’m right here, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko reprimanded. “There’s no need to shout, you’ll disturb the other customers.”

“I suppose I’ve been here long enough,” Midorima thought out loud as he stared at Kagami, disapproval and animosity evident in his eyes.

The redhead returned the green haired teen’s sentiments, stepping forward as if inciting a challenge. But Kagami knew, deep down, this man was just as dangerous as the other two: Kise Ryouta and Murasakibara Atsushi.

Kuroko was not oblivious to the two’s sudden antagonism, but he couldn’t exactly place as to why they would feel that way. It was obvious to the bluenette that Midorima didn’t share that hostility with him, as proven by the slight softening of his eyes whenever the latter would look at Kuroko when he thought the bluenette wasn’t looking, his indifference just an act. But the malice towards Kagami was real, and the bluenette didn’t approve of that one bit.

“Before you go Midorima-kun, I would like you to meet Kagami-kun,” Kuroko introduce the two, but the mood didn’t seem to improve until a sudden bark interrupted. Blinking in surprise, the bluenette opened his bag, and out immediately sprang Nigou, happily panting at the sight of his owner. Smiling, Kuroko introduced the pup as well, “And this is Nigou.”

Kagami grimaced at the sight of the puppy once more, starting to edge away from the bluenette. Midorima joined the redhead, backing away from the puppy, “I’ll be taking my leave if you don’t mind.”

“Goodbye Midorima-kun,” Kuroko waved.

The green haired teen took one last glance at the bluenette before walking out of the store. “We’ll meet again, Kuroko.”

After Midorima left, Kuroko turned his attention towards the redhead, “Kagami-kun, you should be nicer to strangers.”

“Eh? It’s not my fault I don’t get along with some people,” Kagami countered. “Besides, he started it first.”

“Even so, it’s impolite to stare at people like that. You scared a lot of the customers away,” Kuroko pointed out. Thinking that Kagami would start a brawl with Midorima, most of the customers left in order to not be involved.

“Like I said, that’s not my fault!” The redhead repeated, sighing in slight annoyance. “Anyway, let’s go play some basketball. I’m itching to play a game or two.”

“Alright, let’s go.”


	6. Mishaps in the Park (1.6)

Nearing the horizon, pale streaks of gold, red, and purple dyed the sky. Laughter and the shuffling of feet echoed through the empty park as two teens, a redhead and a bluenette, ran across the court, dribbling a basketball.

The two practiced shooting, passing, anything that not only strengthened their skills but also their friendship. Nigou quietly watched the two near a bench, barking every now and then to show his support. Though it only made Kagami shiver and shout back at the puppy, sparking up a small argument between words and barks.

Kuroko laughed at the two, “You really can’t stand dogs, can you.”

Kagami returned a bland stare as he admitted, “No.. I can’t.”

“Who knew the ‘Taiga’ would be such a scaredy-cat,” The bluenette teased, earning a loud protest from the redhead.

From a nearby distance, Kuroko could hear some shouting, judging on the feminine screams, it wasn’t just a friendly scuffle. Kagami heard it as well, turning to the bluenette to ask whether or not they should go investigate, but he was too late, as Kuroko was already gone.

“Eh? Kuroko?” The redhead looked around frantically. “Where the hell did you go?”

It didn’t take long until he heard a polite monotone voice interrupting the disturbance, causing Kagami to groan. Running, he headed towards the noise, making out a very large group and a mop of light blue hair.

It shouldn’t be very surprising for him to see Kuroko acting so rashly; after all, this happened once in a basketball court. Despite being one against five people, the bluenette still confronted the much larger bullies, unafraid. Even though Kuroko’s morals got them into some troublesome problems, Kagami thought it was admirable: it was one thing to say it but another to follow through. But he’ll think about that later, right now, Kagami was thoroughly annoyed.

The scene that Kuroko entered made him quite mad. There were at least six boys, all surrounding a pink haired girl. Based on the little snippets that he heard on the way, he was convinced that the boys were catcalling the girl, and when she refused to acknowledge them, they decided to harass her.

“Let me go!” She screamed, trying to hit them, but it proved to be useless.

“Come on babe,” One of the boys tried seducing her. “We just want to show you a good time.”

“It’s impolite to force other people to do something against their wills,” Kuroko interrupted. “Please let her go.”

Surprised by the new arrival, the boys stared wide eyed at the bluenette. They thought they were alone, and thus, could get away with such a crude act. But Kuroko wasn’t going to let them go without some sort of a fight.

“Who the hell are you? Where’d the hell you come from?” A brown haired kid spat venomously. He tried straightening his back, attempting to look bigger.

“It doesn’t matter who I am. I’m asking you to let her go,” Kuroko responded calmly. “No, I’m mistaken. I’m not ‘asking’, I’m demanding you to.”

The group laughed, did the strange kid really think he could handle them on? Kuroko was significantly smaller than them, if not by height, then by build. Not only was the bluenette at a disadvantage in body size, he was greatly outnumbered.

“What are you going to do little boy?” A dark haired kid mocked. “Why don’t you go home to your mommy before you get hurt by the big kids.”

This sparked another burst of laughter, but that soon ended when a large figure overshadowed them.

“Why don’t I make it more fair?” Kagami glared down at them, causing them to unconsciously step back.

‘He’s huge!’ They all thought despairingly, looking at the redhead in shock. But after a while, they smiled. They had more people, and although the big guy would take down two or three people, there were still the rest of them.

“Two against six? Don’t you think that you’re at a bit of a disadvantage?” One of the teens smirked, trying to intimidate a indifferent Kagami.

Footsteps echoed behind, stepping closer with each stride. Large fingers entangled themselves in light blue hair, ruffling them, “Why don’t I join? Three against six seems fair.”

The moment the man joined in, the troublemakers ran. How was it possible for a person to just ooze out danger?

Kuroko could only blink, staring at the retreating figures, before he glanced up to see the offending person, only to stare wide eyed and gape at the man. He was tan with short navy hair, and just a tad bit taller and muscular than Kagami was. But the resemblance wasn’t what shocked him, it was the wave of familiarness and nostalgia that lingered with his presence. He was the one, the reason why Kuroko followed Kagami that one day.

At first, Kagami was surprised and confused to see a stranger joining them, but in a split second, it soon turned into suspicion and wariness. Everything about the man screamed deadly; it was even more prominent than Kise, Murasakibara, and Midorima combined.

Dark blue eyes glared at Kagami, silently asserting his dominance. It was an animalistic instinct, a primal impulse that most supernaturals lost as time passed. But Kagami was very familiar with this; his mentor in the United States taught him that although being cunning is a valuable asset, instincts were the key to survival.

In fact, now that he thought about it even the pink haired girl raised his suspicion. Normally, after being harassed, wouldn’t a girl cry or freak out? But right now, she just stood there calmly, silently observing them. No. If he looked at her more closely, she was looking only at Kuroko. Why?

Kagami grimaced. There was something definitely off today. Kuroko, who was almost never noticed, to be greeted and befriended by four pure blooded supernaturals?

He needed to get Kuroko somewhere safe. There was no way he could trust these people. Kagami grabbed Kuroko’s shoulder, but the bluenette paid no heed. “Oi, Kuroko, let’s go-”

“Ao…”

It was just a whisper, yet it silenced everything, even Kagami’s confusion. They continued to stare at Kuroko, the tanned man and the pink haired girl both with wide eyes.

“...Ao..mi….” What? What was he even saying? A name? But why?

Kuroko looked straight into the larger man’s eyes. It’s because he’s important to him, right? No, not just him, they all are, Kise, Murasakibara, Midorima... They must be, otherwise, why else would his subconscious try remembering so hard?

“Ao…mine… kun…” Kuroko whispered. “You’re Aomine-kun, right?”

There was a long silence. It only appeared for a brief second, but Kuroko could see it, see the shock, the loneliness, and even a slight slimmer of hope, all before it was concealed in content.

“Man, how did you know that was my name?” The tan man smirked, ruffling teal hair once more, “My name is Aomine Daiki.”

“I am Kuroko Tetsuya,” Kuroko greeted, but he was suddenly pounced on by the pink haired girl.

“You were so cool, standing up to those bullies like that!” She squealed. “My name is Momoi Satsuki. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Momoi-san,” Kuroko returned with a gentle smile.

“Heh, guessing my name off the bat, are you psychic or something?” Aomine joked before turning to address the pink haired girl. “Oi, Satsuki, you okay?”

“Oh I’m fine. Thanks to Tetsu-kun,” She grinned cheerfully.

“Perhaps you two know each other?” The bluenette stared at them in wonder.

“Yep! Dai-chan and I are childhood friends,” Momoi exclaimed enthusiastically. “Ne, who’s that guy over there?”

“That’s Kagami-kun, he’s one of my friends,” Kuroko introduced before looking at Aomine. “I hope you two get along.”

“Eh? Of course, we’ll get along. Right, Kagami?” Aomine stated comically, wrapping an arm around the latter in a lame show of getting along.

“Who would want to befriend a ganguro like you?” The latter returned blandly, causing the navy haired teen to twitch in annoyance.

“What did you say?” Although he was smirking, navy blue eyes twitched in slight anger.

“Not only troublesome but deaf too? You sure like to attract weird people, Kuroko,” Kagami banged his head against Aomine’s, returning his anger.

“Says the one who has weird eyebrows. They look like those rabbit apples,” Aomine returned, and thus ensued the bickering between two idiots.

“Why can’t you two just get along,” Momoi sighed tiredly.

“I guess they’re even the same in that aspect,” Kuroko commented with equal fatigue, but his attention was soon directed downwards as he heard a small whine. “Ah, Nigou.”

“I’m sorry for forgetting you.” The puppy barked in response as Kuroko picked him up, who then started licking the bluenette in happiness.

“How cute! He looks just like you,” She commented, trying to pet Nigou, though the puppy refused, shaking it’s head in disdain.

“Yeah,” Kuroko commented before looking fondly at the bickering duo, and then at the setting sun.

Was it strange to feel content? Even if it was, it wouldn’t stop him from feeling how natural this was. There was just one more person he had to meet, that he was fairly certain. But instead of Aomine’s blue, the last person reminded him of red, blood red.

~~~~~

By the time the bickering two had finished, the sun was almost devoured by the horizon.

“It’s getting dark,” Kuroko commented. “We should go home before it gets too late.”

“Yeah,” Kagami agreed. “Did you tell your parents yet?”

“I sent them a text saying I would be coming home later,” The bluenette nodded. Turning to the tanned teen, Kuroko lifted his hand, but instead of a handshake, he lifted his fist. “It was nice meeting you Aomine-kun. I hope we can meet later on.”

Aomine was briefly surprised at the gesture before he grinned and lightly clashed his fist with Kuroko’s. “Yeah, let’s meet up later on.”

Kuroko returned a smile before saying goodbye, leaving with Kagami and Nigou.

The dark haired and the pink hair teens watched as the redhead and light bluenette walked away, not moving until their appearance was blurred into the distance.

“Ne, Dai-chan,” Momoi started. “He looks happy right now.”

Aomine continued to be silent, eyes still staring at the distance where the bluenette once stood.

“Do you think we should have just watched him?” She questioned out loud. There was another long pause before she whispered. “He’s starting to remember.”

“I know,” Aomine looked down at his hand, which was slightly curled in a loose fist. Kuroko’s memories were returning, probably because of them. “But, we’re not mature enough to leave him alone.”

Momoi smiled in empathy, turning around so that her back faced the fading sunlight. “He’s probably going to meet Tetsu-kun today too.”

Silence was once again his response before he turned to address her. “Let’s go home, Satsuki.”


	7. Resurfacing Memories (1.7)

Night had befallen Tokyo as the city lights illuminate the darkness. In the suburban part of the city, two teens made their way home with Nigou comfortably seated in the bluenette’s bag, enjoying the scenery that past his eyes. 

It was only a few moments ago that they had departed from Aomine and Momoi, the two bidding their temporary farewells. After they left, Kagami insisted in walking Kuroko back to his home, or at least, partially. The bluenette didn’t mind, besides, Kagami’s home was on the way as well. 

“Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun are really similar,” Kuroko commented, earning an exasperated glare from the latter. 

“I am nothing like him!” Kagami argued, the ganguro had made a bitter first impression. 

“But Kagami-kun, if you think about it,” The bluenette reasoned. “You and Aomine-kun have nearly the same build and height. Plus you two are surprisingly hot headed.”

The redhead was about to counter Kuroko’s statement, but he couldn’t find anything that would prove otherwise, and thus making him stutter as his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. “I- … just shut up Kuroko.”

Chuckling at Kagami’s lame attempt at countering, Kuroko continued to walk, enjoying the newfound silence. The redhead just accepted the taunt, still slightly fuming, before walking closer to the bluenette. 

Looking at Kuroko from the corner of his eye, he began reflecting. He knew that the bluenette was amnesic, and to be honest, he felt jealous. Jealous of a person he just hardly met. Even though Kuroko wasn’t conscious of the fact, it couldn’t escape him; the closeness, the longing, the hopeful glances as \the bluenette stared into Aomine’s eyes.

Aomine probably was Kuroko’s best friend before they even met. It frustrated him, the thought of how much that ganguro even meant… because, if Aomine meant that much to him, then the reason why Kuroko even approached him in the first place was probably because he resembled him. Did that mean that even subconsciously, Aomine overshadowed him? 

Earlier, he wanted to take Kuroko away, take him somewhere safe. But, did he even have the right to take him away from someone who could show him his past?

A loud sigh escaped his lips, causing Kuroko to turn to him. “Are you okay Kagami-kun?”

“Eh? Yeah, I am,” The bluenette snapping him out of his thoughts, “You’re like a magnet for weird people, like Kise or Midorima. ”

“I guess I tend to do that,” Kuroko responded. “But wouldn’t that make you one of those weird people as well, Kagami-kun?”

“Don’t group me with them,” Kagami replied. 

“Do you think it would be strange...” Kuroko started. “For them to know each other?”

“...No,” Now that he thought about it, they were all dangerous, even Momoi, though she was deadly in a different sense. No, it wouldn’t be strange if they knew each other at all, especially since they all befriended Kuroko. “I think it would be strange if they didn’t.”

“I see,” The bluenette nodded, accepting the redhead’s explanation. “I find it kind of ironic that their hair is the same color in their surnames.”

“Pfft, you’d be the exception in the group,” Kagami laughed, earning a smile from Kuroko. They were in a comfortable silence before the road began to split into two. The redhead pointed towards the left crosswalk, “I’m going this way.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Kuroko slightly bowed his head as he walked down the street. 

Kagami watched the bluenette’s back, fading into the distance, before he continued on his way. 

If Kuroko wanted to remember, then, he wouldn’t interfere. That was what he decided. Well, he would mostly uphold that unless the group proved to be a danger to Kuroko. But seeing as how they reacted to him, he believed that they were alright, for now.


	8. Gold is Cold But With Resolve (1.8)

The streets were empty, though it was normally secluded during this time at night. Kuroko enjoyed the stroll back home with Nigou seated on his head, the puppy barking happily at the heightened landscape. It was peaceful and quiet, with the exception of the chirping of crickets.

He didn’t know how long ago it started, but the echoing of footsteps were becoming prominent, though it was hard to tell from which direction. The bluenette stopped in place, looking around warily.

“Who’s there?” That wasn’t exactly the best choice Kuroko could have made. In fact, it was akin to how the protagonist in a horror film would ask that question before entering a room that could hold their potential murderer, as if the killer would let them know where they were.

The footsteps paused for a few seconds before the person revealed himself in front of the bluenette. It was a man with crimson hair with mismatching eye colors, the right a blood red while the other a golden yellow. He was a tad bit taller and bigger than Kuroko, but otherwise, they had a very similar build.

“I’m sorry,” The red haired teen apologized, his voice silky and smooth. “I didn’t mean to startle you as you were walking.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kuroko stated calmly, though internally he was anything but. Nigou also seemed to become cautious of the stranger, his tiny legs tensing, ready to pounce.

There was a sort of familiarness towards the redhead, but it was overshadowed by something akin to fear. No, it felt, more so, like remorse. He didn’t want to be near him, but yet, he felt a very strong urge to hug the latter. It was strange to feel so much hesitance and anxiety, and yet, yearning and a bit of pride accompanied the mixed emotions.

They were silent in thought as they continued to stare at each other, observing each other. For some reason, Kuroko’s gaze seemed to stop right on the teen’s left eye; the color was off.

“Is there something on my face?” The redheaded teen asked politely. “You seem to be staring for quite a while now.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. That was rude of me,” Kuroko apologized. “I was just thinking about something.”

“Did you?” The teen asked, seemingly to be unaware of what the bluenette’s attention was mainly focused on. “I’m sorry, it’s impolite of me not to introduce myself. I’m Akashi Seijuro. What is your name?”

“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya,” He introduced. “It’s nice to meet you, Akashi-kun.”

An slightly tense silence was shared between the two. Kuroko didn’t exactly dislike Akashi; it was more of, he didn’t like the Akashi with the golden eye. He was thoroughly convinced, even though there was nothing to support his claim, that Akashi’s true eye color was the same matching crimson. He was being polite, using “boku” instead of “ore”, but the Akashi in front of him felt like a fake.

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Tetsuya,” Akashi returned, causing the bluenette to frown.

“Please do not greet me so informally,” The way the redhead addressed him caused him to run cold. “We just met.”

Kuroko could see a flash of anger appearing in the golden eye, the crimson one accompanying it. But, Kuroko knew that the red one, to which the bluenette considered was Akashi’s true eye, was hiding a weighty melancholy, heavier than all of the others combined.

“I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but I hope you forgive this one whim of mine,” The latter replied smoothly, but for some reason, Kuroko felt a sense of desperation.

There was something wrong with Akashi. He was probably undergoing through a lot of stress and problems, and hiding all of his troubles in a calm facade was most likely adding towards his fragile state. Watching Akashi behave like this was similar to watching an abused cat scratching the hand of its new owner.

“Akashi-kun,” Kuroko stepped closer. “You’re probably going through a tough time right now, and I know we just met, but…”

Heterochromatic eyes widened as a pale hand gently touched his face, brushing away his bangs.

“If you need someone to talk to, I’ll listen to you,” The bluenette finished, letting his fingers fall from the redhead’s face.

“Heh, is that so?” The laugh had surprised Kuroko, but not as much as the small smile that grew on Akashi’s face. “Thank you, Tetsuya.”

Light blue eyes widened as he stared. Heterochromatic eyes had now became monochromatic, sharing the same beautiful shade of cardinal. It was a beautiful sight, one that Kuroko never wanted to forget, but it seemed his subconscious wouldn’t let him forget, as he was once again overwhelmed with nostalgia.

“Pfft, you’re staring again,” Akashi laughed once more. Kuroko didn’t notice it before, but this Akashi, the one with both red eyes, was a lot warmer and kinder than the one with the golden eye.

“I’m sorry, Akashi-kun,” The bluenette apologized, “Truthfully, I like the color of your eyes very much. Red suits you very well.”

“Thank you, Tetsuya,” A smile adorned his face once more. “It’s getting really late now. I’m sorry for keeping you out here for so long.”

“It’s fine,” Kuroko returned, taking Nigou, who had relaxed once the golden eye was gone, off of his head and into his bag. He bowed his head before stating, “I should head home now. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Likewise,” Akashi nodded in agreement. “We’ll meet again, Tetsuya.”

“I hope so,” Kuroko finished before he watched the latter leave. Looking downwards, “I’ve met a lot of strange people today, Nigou.”

The puppy barked in response, happily agreeing. Kuroko smiled before he headed home. Today had been a very long day, he thought as he continued walking, unaware of the lurking figures in the distance.

~~~~~

He only walked a couple of meters before he stopped. Five people appeared behind him, though he didn’t turn around to greet them immediately.

“You got too excited Akashi,” Midorima stated, speaking with an analytical rather than insulting tone.

“You’re lucky you didn’t scare Tetsu away,” Aomine joked.

Kise smiled, before he joined in, “Akashi-cchi is so scary when his eye is gold.”

“Bullying is bad, you know,” Momoi lightly scolded, though she knew that none of them were serious.

“Kuro-chin is also brave too,” Murasakibara commented. “He tried saving Momoi-chin.”

“That’s right,” The redhead agreed, looking down.

He’s still the same, was what they all thought.

“We’ll need to watch over him,” His tone sharpened, causing everyone else to become serious as well. A golden eye flashed as he turned around, looking at his friends. “From now on, we must do everything to protect him, understood?”

There was only silence, but they all knew the answer. Kuroko Tetsuya was their very important person to all of them, and anyone who’d even think about harming him was as good as dead.


	9. The First Sign (2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a quick update for this fic. I am still unsure when I'll update the next major chapter since school's been pretty hectic lately. Thank you for reading this fic.

Sunlight creeped through from the slight crack in the window, illuminating the small bedroom as the golden orb slowly crawled from the horizon.

Kuroko, who was still slumbering in bed, did not have a peaceful slumber. Twisting and turning, his face contorted into a small grimace while fingers became cold and a thin layer of sweat coated his neck, face, and back. His consciousness was deeply intertwined with the nightmare, leaving him unable to stop the tortuous visions.

But with a sharp bark in his ear, Kuroko broke out of the trance, now fully awake and wide eyed. He could hear Nigou, who jumped onto the bed, whine in worry before the little pup licked his face in concern.

“Thank you, Nigou,” Kuroko rubbed Nigou’s ears after he calmed his rampant heart, reassuring his friend that he was fine now. The puppy tilted his head before proceeding to nuzzle against Kuroko’s stomach.

While Nigou was adjusting to the new position, Kuroko stared at the colorful dawn. It was a scary dream, he was certain of that, but all of the vivid details faded away while the last moments of his sleep were haunted by a low laugh.

Judging by how the sun barely peaked above the houses, there was still hours left before he needed to get ready, but sleep did not seem like a good option, especially after a nightmare. There was still a sense of dread, even if the dream was just little fragments.

After much debate, Kuroko sighed, taking in a long breath. Nightmares happened occasionally, he reasoned, and perhaps this was just one of those days. Kuroko laid back down, hugging Nigou as he stared out through the window. With the dawn sky as his last sight, he fell into a restful sleep.


	10. Just A Little Head Trauma (3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took so long to get this done, but I finally did it. Dialogue is so hard to write Q.Q Thank you for waiting patiently.
> 
> Fun Fact: Akashi was suppose to be romantically involved with Kuroko, but I decided that it wouldn't make much sense. He's still special though.

The jerking motions of the bus along with the constant chattering of his team made it difficult to rest. His body felt heavy, not necessarily sleepy, though he hoped a little nap would have cured his fatigue.

He laid his head against the top of the cushion, hand scratching Nigou’s ears as the pup slept.

For the past two weeks, his schedule was centered around Inter High, two matches scheduled in an hour or so, and midterms. Basketball practice was intense in preparation for the competition, leading to a sore body, while Kagami’s failure in his mock exams resulted in several tutoring sessions lasting through the early hours of the morning.

Late nights or all nighters were nothing new, and while Kuroko was certain a part of his exhaustion stemmed from the lack of sleep, it wasn’t the same. It was more than just sleep based jadedness. During the entire month, something seemed off, a nagging feeling of anticipation. If he could put it to words, the best description would be that he was anxious, almost fearful.

The feeling manifested after he had met them, but there wasn’t anything in particular that would suggest such a thing, and even if there was some miniscule reason, it had been weeks since he last saw them.

Kuroko frowned as he stared out the window, watching the blurring buildings passing by.

He should have expected that he wouldn’t see them again. They were practically strangers, and it wasn’t as if they scheduled a time to get together or were obligated to meet; there wasn’t even a way for him to contact them. Perhaps their initial meeting was all by chance, and maybe all of the feelings that accompanied them were as well.

But even so, even if he was just being wishful, he had hoped to see them again, perhaps not in another coincidental meeting, but a small glimpse of them would do. That was all he wanted.

He felt a nudge behind his seat.

“Are you sleeping?” Kagami was speaking to him, but it sounded more like white noise.

“No,” Kuroko turned around, resting his chin on top of the seat. Noticing the latter’s bloodshot eyes, he commented, “Kagami-kun, the look in your eyes is worse than usual.”

“Shut up,” A frown marred his face as he blandly looked away. “I was a lot more excited than I should be.”

“What are you, a kid on a field trip?” Kuroko scoffed a laugh, earning a flustered outburst.

“It’s not my fault!” He defended before sneering in anticipation. “We’re going against the two Kings of Tokyo. What would you expect?”

“I expected Kagami-kun to have a full night’s rest in order to save his energy. But it seems my expectations were too high,” Kuroko responded, finding enjoyment in the redhead’s reactions.

Kagami continued the conversation, one he was grateful for, because it offered a distraction from his uneasiness. It gave him a moment of peace, an excuse to ignore the sinking feeling and a reason to focus on the present, on their basketball match.

And if favor permits, time would let the restlessness fade away, and perhaps, be kind enough to let them meet up once more.

Until then, he would continue to wait.

~~~~~

Ear piercing cheers resonated throughout the stadium in celebration, yet only a faint buzz registered in Kuroko’s hearing as he panted hard, trying to catch his bearings. After all, anyone would be exhausted after defeating the two Kings of Tokyo in their consecutive games.

Kuroko looked around, soaking in the joyous expressions he saw on his teammates, all before he felt a large force tackling him to the floor. He was slightly disoriented, but with a quick glance down, his eyes meeting dark red and black, he realized that it was Kagami, who was grinning madly like an idiot.

A small smile formed on his lips before he commented, “You're heavy."

“Shut up,” There was a short laugh before Kagami clumsily stood up, offering his hand to Kuroko, the grin ever so present. A pale hand accepted the offer as Kagami lifted the bluenette off of the floor, only to have their teammates latch onto them.

Kuroko let out a joyous laugh before he felt a warm pull attracting his gaze towards the a side of the stadium. There wasn’t anything he saw that stood out amongst the sea of screaming fans, and yet, he couldn’t help but feel a need to locate the source as he looked on.

He continued to stare in slight confusion before he caught a flash of a light grey in his peripheral, disappearing seconds later.

Kuroko didn’t put too much thought in the fleeting sight, as he was distracted by the crowd, his teammates, and the hard earned victory, but he smiled as he reveled in the wave of serenity that accompanied it.

As of now, he would enjoy this momentary peace because the calm of the night boded the disaster of a storm.

~~~~~

To commemorate their success, Riko had treated them to a nearby okonomiyaki restaurant. The second years were indulged in their own world filled with laughter and bad puns while the first years sat in a nearby table, staring in terror at their ace who’s puffed cheeks, covered in crumbs, continued to grow with each bit. Their horror distracted them from noticing their missing member.

A small cold breeze flitted across his face, brushing his hair in wild directions. Kuroko found moments like this calming, walking down the nearly empty streets with Nigou; it was a very much needed break from the hectic and bustling atmosphere the restaurant provided.

Tiny paws echoed excitedly against the pavement, the result of an ecstatic Nigou, finally freed from the small duffel bag. He would circle the bluenette for a few times, run off, before coming back to repeat the procedure. Kuroko smiled at how happy the puppy was, glad that he decided to bring the pup outside when he started becoming restless.

He turned to look at passing pedestrians, content with just observing them, even smiling when he witness a group of teenagers laughing. They reminded him of Seirin.

Fragments of memories were interrupted when a loud whine caused him to whip his head towards Nigou, who was running towards him, barking madly. Kuroko kneeled down to hold the small dog, but the pup squirmed around in his hold, whining as he continued to look around frantically.

“Nigou, what’s wrong?” This was the first time he saw the Alaskan Malamute to be so jittery. Turning to observe his surroundings, Kuroko could find nothing out of the ordinary, nothing but the growing apprehension in his gut.

He took a step backwards, taking one last glance around, before running back to the restaurant.

Two steps. That’s all he could manage before an arm circled his neck in a solid hold. Nigou growled loudly before attempting to bite the offending arm, resulting in a string of profanities and the loosening of the arm, to which the bluenette took advantage of.

A quick jab to the stomach was the finishing blow before he was freed from his captor, but in the end, it was futile. He was now surrounded.

Five men, each hiding their face behind a dark cloth, were substantially larger than him, possibly even taller than Kagami. There was nearly zero chance for him to escape, and absolutely none if he was going to fight.

“Take it easy kid,” One of them said as they circled him. “We won’t harm you if you come with us.”

His eyebrows furrowed and a frown marred his face. Why was it that his low presence didn’t apply to situations like this? Not to mention, why were the streets empty now?

Kuroko took cautious steps, carefully gauging the situation, hoping for some sort of opportunity to break free.

“What do you want?” The men gave each other subtle glances, eyeing each other in a mental exchange of information.

Nigou barked. Kuroko immediately dived down, avoiding the first grab, but not the second. They smacked his head against a nearby wall, causing his ears to ring as his entire vision vibrated, before grabbing his arm, twisting it, and pressing it against his back. Yet despite their muscular hold on his neck and the oncoming headache, they had trouble subduing the bluenette.

One of the taller men started walking away. “Just knock him out.”

The arm obliged, tightening around his neck.

He couldn’t even swallow, much less breathe. His chest burned, nails dyed with red as his hand clawed the arm. It wouldn’t budge.

Everything became tinted in a palish green as the nausea settled, dying his vision white before it slowly descended into black.

~~~~~

“Will Kuro-chin be alright?”

Even though his eyes were open, it took him several moments to even realize that fact, and even longer to register the six people surrounding him.

“Kurokocchi…”

He blinked before his senses came back in miniscule portions, but enough to drag out an uncomfortable groan. The world seem to tilt, and closing his eyes made no attempts in helping the lightheadedness fade away. A pair of hands lifted him up, leaving his upper body to rest against strong arms.

“Tetsu-kun, are you okay?”

One eye cracked open, seeing pink, “Mo...moi?

Kuroko tried sitting up, but the task proved to be much more difficult as his arms buckled before collapsing, falling back into the firm hold.

“Don’t move,” It was Aomine. “You’re still hurt.”

His mind was still swimming. “How is he Shintarou?”

“A little disoriented, but he should be fine in a couple of minutes,” Midorima kneeled down as he inspected Kuroko’s injuries. “Does it hurt anywhere Kuroko?”

His eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to form his thoughts. Nothing came to mind other than the dulling pain in his neck and head. “...No?”

Thin bandages pressed against his neck, tenderly turning his head to the side as Midorima continued to inspect the damage. In a few moments, Midorima stood up, “It seems he suffering from a mild concussion, but there shouldn’t be any lasting effects.”

“Can you stand?” A hand entered his line of sight, to which Kuroko stared at mindlessly for a solid minute before reaching out towards it. The hand was warm.

Akashi gently lifted him to his feet, though the bluenette swayed dangerously. “It looks like you put up quite a fight, Tetsuya.”

Kuroko looked down to see blood coating his fingers, though he remained unalarmed. Whether it was due to his muddled state or not, his eyes were fixated at the spot. Akashi could only smile nostalgically before wiping away the red stains with his shirt.

“Aka...shi?” It took him a while to speak, but after gaping a few times, he managed a few words. “Why… here?”

A melodious laugh escaped, causing glazed blue eyes to focus on the redhead in some sort of dazed awe. “You need to rest. Let’s get you back to them.”

Silence once again, but that was to be expected. Akashi softly nudged Kuroko forward, holding his hand gently as he started leading them back to the restaurant. But there was a faint brush against his shoulder before smaller arms embraced him, earning the gasps from all present, including him.

Kuroko didn’t speak, there was no sign that he would any time soon, but he liked doing this, hugging the redhead. It made him feel fuzzy inside.

Akashi simply indulged himself, finding it challenging to even think about removing the hold, but he reluctant resigned, taking Kuroko by the hand and leading him away from the alleyway and far away from the bleeding corpses.

~~~~~

“I can’t believe you Kuroko!” Aida scolded at the said person.

It took an hour for Seirin to note that their phantom disappeared, and another hour passed by as they frantically searched. And they were especially displeased when Kuroko appeared before them, introducing them to Kise, Midorima, Aomine, Momoi, Murasakibara, and Akashi,as if he had done no wrong.

Aida would have put him in a Boston Crab hold right then and there if it weren't for Kise's quick protective hug and Midorima's precise diagnosis of Kuroko's health.

"Honestly, do you know how much trouble you caused us?" She sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "How hard is it to tell us that you were going to walk Nigou?"

"I'm sorry, Aida-san, but I did try," This earned several confused stares from Seirin. "I told Kagami-kun and the others, but you were having such a fun conversation that I was ignored."

"Is that so..." She scratched her face in embarrassment. "Well, lets head back."

Seirin nodded in agreement, trailing behind tiredly. Kuroko followed as well, though at a much slower pace as he was facing the direction beside him.

"Thank you for helping me.”

"Don't worry about it Kurokocchi!" Kise grinned widely as he moved in to hug the bluenette, which he dodged.

Ignoring the small pout and crocodile tears the blonde cried, Kuroko continued with a small bow. "I'm sorry if I caused you too much trouble."

A hand slapped his back quite hard. "Don't worry about it, Tetsu."

Momoi soon joined. "We'll always be here to help.”

Kuroko’s face softened as a slight smile graced his face, growing even more in fondness when he reminisced the memory of waking up to their presence. Even when they bombarded him with concerns, he found it difficult to be anything but content.

"Kuro-chin, how is your head?"

"I'm doing much better."

"Don't do anything too strenuous. It is important that you recover."

"Yes Midorima-kun."

The onslaught of questions slowly came to a comfortable silence, though their footsteps continued to echo against the pavement; Seirin had already went their separate ways.

“It was nice seeing you again,” Kuroko readjusted his bag slowly as to not disturb a sleeping Nigou.

“Testu-kun, take this!” A piece of paper was in her hand, filled with black scribbles, but once she handed it over to Kuroko, he noticed that they were phone numbers. “We forgot to exchange our contacts the first time.”

“Oh! I just remembered!” Kise excitedly jumped. “You were so amazing in today’s game!”

“Yeah, your passes were awesome,” Aomine started waving his hands in random directions, adding in sound effects. “They went like whoosh, and whoosh-”

“You’re embarrassing,” Midorima stared blandly, earning an annoyed outburst from the tanned teen.

“Are you trying to start something, megane?”

“Even if I was, it’s not as if you have the ability to do anything,” He lifted his glasses as he scoffed.

“You two shouldn’t fight,” Momoi pouted, with a nod from Kise.

“Momoi-chin shouldn’t bother,” Murasakibara stated in a lazy manner. “They’re just idiots.”

“Hey!”

Kuroko chuckled to himself as he watched them bicker amongst each other.

“How are your memories?”

Cerulean eyes blinked in surprise before he stammered an answer, “Oh, I can’t remember what happened in the past hour. Did I do something?”

“Nothing really, you were easy to take care of,” Akashi smiled, though the comment caused Kuroko’s eyebrows to rise.

They stopped as the road diverged into two different streets, the halt ending the squabble in the background. “It looks like your stop is here.”

Kuroko nodded as he started boarding the bus, “I hope we meet again.”

“You say it as if we won’t see each other for a long time,” Kise pouted. “I know we didn’t see you for a long time, but this time’s different!”

“Yeah,” Aomine joined in. “You have our contacts now, so you can call us whenever the hell you want.”

“That’s right,” His hand reached into his pocket, fingers rubbing the smooth piece of paper. “That reminds me, what were you doing?”

“We were busy with paperwork for the transfer and move,” Midorima readjusted his glasses as he explained.

His brows slightly creased, “All six of you?”

“We’re adopted siblings,” Momoi cheerfully smiled.

That explained how they knew each other. “Where are you attending now?”

“Teiko High,” Murasakibara answered simply. “That means we can visit Kuro-chin whenever we want.”

“You should head back home,” Akashi suggested. “It’s starting to get late.”

True to his word, the sun was nearing the horizon, golden rays reflecting against buildings. Kuroko bowed his head in a small farewell. “We’ll see each other soon then.”

“Goodbye,” The others mirrored, watching cerulean hair disappear into the distance before they too left.

It was only a few meters away that matte silver continued to go unnoticed.


End file.
